Selected Shorts

Guest host Jane Kaczmarek presents two stories from the Best American Short Stories 2021 anthology selected by guest editor Jesmyn Ward. Both involve adolescents facing displacement or rejection, but the stories are set in very different environments: One takes place in a surreal, Soviet-occupied Afghanistan, and one inside a junior high school in Tennessee. First, Leo Solomon reads “Playing Metal Gear Solid: The Phantom Pain,” by Jamil Jan Kochai. Then we hear “Biology,” by Kevin Wilson, performed by Mike Doyle. And Ward comments briefly on her approach to creating this year’s diverse anthology.

Guest host Hope Davis presents three uncanny stories featuring children. In Simon Rich’s hilarious “The Baby,” a novelist faces competition from his unborn son. Jason Mantzoukas is the reader. A children’s game takes a strange turn in Fiona McFarlane’s “Buttony,” read by Jin Ha. And Etgar Keret offers up an unusual mother-son story—and lots of calories--in “Crumb Cake,” performed by Andy Richter.

Guest host Roxane Gay (no mean cook herself) presents three stories centered on food. In “Three Great Meals” the late New Yorker humor writer Donald Barthelme. tells you how to prepare breakfast, lunch and dinner from a terrifying medley of fast food and low-end canned goods. The story is read by Nate Corddry. In "Simple Recipes," author Madeleine Thien weaves together evocative memories of traditional meals prepared by her father, with more complex images of a family in conflict. The reader is Cindy Cheung. And finally, a Roald Dahl classic, “Lamb to the Slaughter.” This tale of a model housewife’s response to a marital crisis will make you view your Sunday roast in a whole new light. She’s embodied by Catherine O'Hara.

Guest host LeVar Burton presents three stories in which fantasies and memories are both near and far. In “The Elevator Dancer,” by N.K. Jemisin, a guard is obsessed by a woman who spins when no one is looking. Laura Gomez is the reader. A woman remembers a transforming moment in her Depression-era childhood in “Marigolds,” by Eugenia W. Collier. The story is performed by Sharon Washington. Ursula K. Le Guin moves and surprises us in “The Wife’s Story,” performed by Joanna Gleason.

Guest host Jane Kaczmarek presents two very different stories about the overlap of aspirations and dreams. In “Fairness,” by Nigerian-born writer Chinelo Okparanta, a young girl from a well-to-do household is obsessed with the idea of having lighter skin, an obsession shared by all the women in her family circle. The reader is Chinasa Ogbuagu. In Rachel Simon’s eerie “Little Nightmares, Little Dreams,” a husband wants to share everything with his wife of fifty-four years, including their dreams. The story is performed by Maria Tucci.

Guest host Cynthia Nixon presents stories about the family dynamics between children and parents. It's never too early to defy gender norms, as Ivan E. Coyote confides in "No Bikini," read by Becca Blackwell. A woman confronts her mother's aging, and her own childlessness, in Kathryn Chetkovich's tender story "The World with My Mother Still In It," read by Phillipa Soo. And three generations are "At the Zoo," in a story by Caitlin Horrocks: a rowdy grandpa, a sensitive child, and a mother caught between the two. The reader is Kate Walsh.

Guest host Hope Davis presents three stories about being perceived, and remembered, by others. In Aimee Bender’s “The Rememberer,” wonderfully performed by the late Marian Seldes, a woman has to reconstruct her lover from memory as he undergoes an extraordinary transformation. In “Rumors About Me,” an ordinary man becomes a media sensation. The unsettling story is by Yasutaka Tsutsui, translated by Andrew Driver, and performed by Kennedy Kanagawa. And an orange rules the world in a gentle fantasy by Benjamin Rosenbaum, performed by John Cameron Mitchell.

Guest host Michael Cerveris presents two stories in which a lot happens, but subtly. The narrator of A.M. Homes’ “Yours Truly” is “hiding in the linen closet” on a journey of self-discovery. The reader is Beth Malone. In Weike Wang’s “Omakase” a couple’s special sushi dinner proves unexpectedly revealing. The reader is Jennifer Lim.

Guest host Roxane Gay presents two stories about making things work out, though sometimes at a cost. In “Loose Change,” by Andrea Levy, performed by Eve Best, a well-off Londoner has a strange encounter in an art gallery, one that recalls a pivotal moment in her family’s past. In Manuel Munoz’s "Anyone Can Do It,” a poor woman takes a risk in order to provide for her family. The reader is Monica Raymund.

Guest host Cynthia Nixon presents stories by two masters of the short-story form. Humor, humanity, and fantasy all combine in four tales of things gone wrong. In “Fly Already” by Etgar Keret, performed by Liev Schreiber, a widower and his small son watch a drama unfold. In “Where Are You?” by Joyce Carol Oates, performed by Dianna Agron, a demanding husband pushes his wife to the limit. In “One Gram Short” by Etgar Keret, performed by Ira Glass, a stoner makes a really bad deal; and Oates’ “Assassin” combines tongue-in-cheek horror and political satire. Becky Ann Baker is the reader.